07 Nba Draft Thread

[Jadaki 0]

Roy Hibbart declared he will be going back to GT for his senior season, he thinks that instead of being the 8th-15th player taken this year he becomes a top 3 pick next year. He might be right or wrong, either way another year developing isn't going to hurt him.

[CaneBrain 95]

It's presumed that this draft and the 2003 draft are the changing of the guard in terms of superstar restocking. The east made out well in 2003. With Wayde, LeBron, Bosh, Heinrich and a lot of good role players going out east, I think the future of the the conference is just fine. The Knicks are due and who knows maybe one more year of those players together will solve their lack of chemistry. I think the east has a bright future as soon as the 2003 picks fully mature into more than shoe salesmen. The west (Especially the weak northwest) made out well in this draft. The entire top 10 will probably pan out one way or another into top players and the Simmons melodrama isn't really looking at the big picture. He said in his own article how Wayde slipped to 5. You don't know who the stars are going to be in a few years. The spurs are on their way out, Nash is 33 and and god knows what's going to happen with Houston. If you step back and look at it the competition should stiffen quite nicely in the next 5-10 years.Edit: Not to mention all the money is out east. With the Atlantic, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, all huge BB markets. The money will always be there if good decisions are made.

while I agree with most of what you wrote here.....basketball is not football. yes sometimes people get drafted at 5 and surprise you like Wade. However, in basketball.....when there is a no doubt prospect that person is always a hall of famer. No huge busts like football.There were two no doubt guys in this draft which is amazing. Usually there are none, sometimes one. (Examples are: Tim Duncan, Lebron James, Carmelo, Iverson, Hakeem was that way (unlike Jordan), you get the picture)yes you can get a superstar at five but Portland and Seattle ARE DEFINITELY getting perennial all stars (assuming no injuries I guess) and you cant put a price on that luxury.

[Jadaki 0]

Yahoo report saying the Blazers are looking at swinging a trade to move up into the 3rd slot to draft Mike Connely Jr

[Livaso 0]

Yahoo report saying the Blazers are looking at swinging a trade to move up into the 3rd slot to draft Mike Connely Jr

It must be because they don't have the guts to draft Durant over Oden. Its the only reason I can imagine.

[Jadaki 0]

It must be because they don't have the guts to draft Durant over Oden. Its the only reason I can imagine.

I take Oden over Durant everyday and twice on Sunday. If the NBA is making anything clear this postseason it's that fast/fun/flashy play like Durant's is only allowed during the regular season.

[Livaso 0]

I take Oden over Durant everyday and twice on Sunday. If the NBA is making anything clear this postseason it's that fast/fun/flashy play like Durant's is only allowed during the regular season.

Oh I definitely agree. Which is why I'm saying they don't have the guts to take Durant. They have Randolph and Aldridge on the front court and Durant is the perfect fit for that team. Who knows though a veteran may be an even better fit. I can't think of equal value though to picking first in this draft.

[CaneBrain 95]

Oh I definitely agree. Which is why I'm saying they don't have the guts to take Durant. They have Randolph and Aldridge on the front court and Durant is the perfect fit for that team. Who knows though a veteran may be an even better fit. I can't think of equal value though to picking first in this draft.

Nah, Oden is the perfect fit. He and Aldridge compliment each other perfectly. Absolutely perfectly. They should dump Randolph, get whatever value they can. Maybe use him to move up in the draft for a 2nd first round pick and get conley (or more realistically Acie Law).A nucleus of Law, Roy, Aldridge, and Oden is downright exciting.Further, if the NCAA tourney proved anything its that good big men still win championships. Florida had Noah and Horford, Gtown had Hibbert, OSU had Oden, etc. I love Durant. Love him. But I take Oden every time. In this day and age it is impossible to guard great players on the perimeter. It is imperative you have a big men who can block/alter shots and cover up perimeter defense errors. Oden is that guy. And his offensive ceiling is pretty high too. Blazers should not even consider Durant.Remember Oden was doing most of his work last year with a hand a half at best. I feel we have only seen the surface of his potential.

[Jadaki 0]

Oh I definitely agree. Which is why I'm saying they don't have the guts to take Durant. They have Randolph and Aldridge on the front court and Durant is the perfect fit for that team. Who knows though a veteran may be an even better fit. I can't think of equal value though to picking first in this draft.

They are talking about shipping out Jack and Randolph to move up to get Connely. Jack playing his college ball at GT and has quite a fan base around the Atlanta area, and Randolph is good but he has some serious shortcomings.

[crowTrobot 2]

Yahoo report saying the Blazers are looking at swinging a trade to move up into the 3rd slot to draft Mike Connely Jr

blazers' GM pritchard expressed potentially having interest in conley because he fit well with oden, but no blazers brass ever said anything about blowing all their trade pieces to get him with the #3 pick. that part is rumor started by somebody's wild speculation. right now blazers are more concerned with targeting r. lewis via sign & trade involving zach (somehow), trying for this lineup:jack/sergio rodriguezroylewisaldridgeodenroy is actually their best PG and will play the point a lot, so they need their other guards to have spot up range more than anything else, which is conley's primary weakness.

[Jadaki 0]

roy is actually their best PG and will play the point a lot, so they need their other guards to have spot up range more than anything else, which is conley's primary weakness.

I wouldn't want him bringing the ball up the court the whole game, he is a good ball handler but against a really good defensive PG he is gonna get stripped a lot.

[mcpickl 0]

blazers' GM pritchard expressed potentially having interest in conley because he fit well with oden, but no blazers brass ever said anything about blowing all their trade pieces to get him with the #3 pick. that part is rumor started by somebody's wild speculation. right now blazers are more concerned with targeting r. lewis via sign & trade involving zach (somehow), trying for this lineup:jack/sergio rodriguezroylewisaldridgeodenroy is actually their best PG and will play the point a lot, so they need their other guards to have spot up range more than anything else, which is conley's primary weakness.

Seattle wont ship Lewis in the division to Portland

[crowTrobot 2]

Seattle wont ship Lewis in the division to Portland

they would for the right package or player. blazers are semi-shopping jack and webster and probably would part with a future #1 too if they had to to make it happen, and there is also the possibility of a third team facilitating a sign/trade deal. obviously it wouldn't be an easy thing to make happen, but lewis has said he wouldn't mind playing for nate again, and they are going to at least try.

[SuitedAces21 2,722]

As a Lakers fan I would like to see them draft Thaddeus Young of Georgia Tech. I dont think he'll still be available, but if he is still there at #19, they better take him. I dont have any reasoning behind it, I just like him and his game. Lot of potential.

[Jadaki 0]

As a Lakers fan I would like to see them draft Thaddeus Young of Georgia Tech. I dont think he'll still be available, but if he is still there at #19, they better take him. I dont have any reasoning behind it, I just like him and his game. Lot of potential.

I think he is a late lottery selection.

[SuitedAces21 2,722]

I think he is a late lottery selection.

NBADRAFT.NET has him going 13, I'm just hoping he will slide. I'm not excited about any of the other players they may get in that slot.

[Jadaki 0]

Today is the day.

[Poppy_Hillis 11]

Today is the day.

Should be one of the better drafts, as far as trades and marquee players.

[Livaso 0]

What the hell is wrong with the Celtics organization? Pierce and Allen? a pure shooter and a semi-pure shooter that both need the ball. a recipe for success. Even on the flip side, You're giving away Ray Allen for vastly inferior players and for no good reason. Its one of those things that make you go "what's the point of this?"Lakers draft another Point Guard for some reason or another. Good luck with that. Maybe they'll run the team after Kobe leaves.Atlanta should have taken Conley, but Horford is going to be a super-duper star. Portland going wacky. They pick up Francis who will not give the ball to Oden or anybody else for that matter, should be exciting.The trade works out well for the Knicks, surprisingly. With Isiah though you breathe a sigh of relief every time he does anything that isn't really stupid.I don't know how long Yi is going to be a Buck. He's got an attitude problem, or maybe his insane Chinese overlords have an attitude problem, I don't know.Good draft so far. I can picture a lot of these players becoming all stars in 3 or 4 years.Joakim is a good fit for the Bulls. Brewer would have been as well. I see them as players that aren't the future of a franchise like durant, oden and horford, but final pieces on a contending club. A lot of his short comings will be masked by not having plays called for him and being a garbage-point hustle player for his first year.Basketball short comings at least. He's still going to be a prime idiot.

[Poppy_Hillis 11]

What the hell is wrong with the Celtics organization? Pierce and Allen? a pure shooter and a semi-pure shooter that both need the ball. a recipe for success. Even on the flip side, You're giving away Ray Allen for vastly inferior players and for no good reason. Its one of those things that make you go "what's the point of this?"Lakers draft another Point Guard for some reason or another. Good luck with that. Maybe they'll run the team after Kobe leaves.Atlanta should have taken Conley, but Horford is going to be a super-duper star. Portland going wacky. They pick up Francis who will not give the ball to Oden or anybody else for that matter, should be exciting.The trade works out well for the Knicks, surprisingly. With Isiah though you breathe a sigh of relief every time he does anything that isn't really stupid.I don't know how long Yi is going to be a Buck. He's got an attitude problem, or maybe his insane Chinese overlords have an attitude problem, I don't know.Good draft so far. I can picture a lot of these players becoming all stars in 3 or 4 years.Joakim is a good fit for the Bulls. Brewer would have been as well. I see them as players that aren't the future of a franchise like durant, oden and horford, but final pieces on a contending club. A lot of his short comings will be masked by not having plays called for him and being a garbage-point hustle player for his first year.Basketball short comings at least. He's still going to be a prime idiot.

I think I disagree with pretty much all of that except the Celtics part. That was a great trade for Portland, they get rid of Randolph's contract and Francis' is up in 2 years which enables them to sign a max FA. Guess who's probably a FA in 09? Kobe Bryant.

[Livaso 0]

Either way we can agree New York now has the fattest front court in the history of the NBA. When Miami plays New York the entire lane will look like a gigantic blob of chocolate pudding.Boston, never one to be outdone by a New York sports franchise, drafted Big Baby to close the Fat Forward gap.

[Jadaki 0]

I really dont get the trade of Richardson for Wright... just horrible by Jordan to pull the trigger on that.

[SuitedAces21 2,722]

I really dont get the trade of Richardson for Wright... just horrible by Jordan to pull the trigger on that.

I just saw that and am still shaking my head. MJ needs to stick to golf.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

I just saw that and am still shaking my head. MJ needs to stick to golf.

[Cappy37 0]

I think I disagree with pretty much all of that except the Celtics part. That was a great trade for Portland, they get rid of Randolph's contract and Francis' is up in 2 years which enables them to sign a max FA. Guess who's probably a FA in 09? Kobe Bryant.

OK, I live in Portland, and I want Kevin Pritchard's head on a platter right now.Let me sum up...If we do buy out Steve Franchise's contract, that means that except for Brandon Roy.. No one on our ENTIRE roster can @#$@$#@ score! Period. It's seriously depressing.We take a 23 and 10 guy who's slightly overpaid, ship him east where his numbers will grow even bigger, dump him on ONLY team with nothing we need in return. Great. Just great.Portland Draft Pro's:1. 2nd year in a row (last year Sergio Rodriguez) that we have STOLEN Phoenix's first round pick for cash. This year it's Fernandez, who is gonna stay overseas a year and be the shooter/ scorer we need off the bench. Absolute bargain.2. Greg Oden is good. Dear lord let him stay healthy. He looks like he's 40 years old. Dude can rebound, has a very limited offensive reportoire. The rumors of us moving up to get Conley were laughable. We need to get Oden's PG for him? Why? He doesn't SCORE enough to be worth that hassle. 3. Thank you for Dukie Josh McRoberts falling to us at 35. Complete no-brainer. He can hang out with Channing Frye on the bench and jump up and cheer in unison whenever a player actually on the court scores a basket. Seriously though, always nice to get a pretty solid big man in the draft that late.4.While we GAVE away Zach Randolph, we did turn him loose in New York City. Bill Simmons should be sending us thank you cards in the mail any day. Z-bo + NYC night life = at least 2 sports guy columns.Con's:1. Couldn't swing anything to get another high 1st round pick when picks 6 on up were up for grabs. Would have loved Julian Wright or someone to score from the 3 for us this year.2. Couldn't unload Travis Outlaw (Trade Restrictions) or Martel Webster (He sucks).3. Could have probably made some kind of package deal w/ Zach and co. for Jermaine O'Neal (Draft Durant, imagine an Oneal/Aldridge/Durant front line!), Reggie Jefferson, or Rashard Lewis. Believe me, if we dangled Zach, some 2nd round picks, Dickau (Backup for Kidd) and Webster for Jefferson and trash, that could happen. Give Jason Kidd a legit PF and Vince Carter and he wins the East next year.4. Didn't draft the next big superstar in our league, went the "logical" route and got the big man with a limited offensive game, who looks like he's 40, has already gone through injury problems, etc. etc. etc. There wasn't a single moment of Texas basketball last year where you were anything but CONVINCED Durant was the best player on the court. There were long stretches last year where you didn't even realize Oden was ON the court. Everyone is patting me on the back saying "Congrats on not reliving the ghost of Sam Bowie".Ok, I will shout now: "THIS IS THE GHOST OF BOWIE $#@$@#$!! WE GOT A BIG MAN WHO'S GOT INJURY PROBLEMS!! MAJOR SURGERY!! WE LET THE BEST PLAYER IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL SLIP THROUGH OUR FINGERS WHILE WE WENT WITH A BIG MAN. WHY IN GODS NAME DO EXPERTS EVEN PRETEND THAT YOU NEED A BIG MAN TO WIN IN THIS LEAGUE ANYMORE? HASN'T BEEN THE CASE SINCE SHAQ ATE HIMSELF OUT OF COMPETITIVE BASKETBALL.Ok, I'm better now. You need a big man, you certainly don't need a dominating big man. 10 years ago you *had* to figure out what to do with Shaq. This is no longer the case. No "center" in this league is barely worth a legit double-team anymore. Duncan is the only real exception, and he isn't a gameplan-altering presence like Shaq was. Teams used to stock a couple extra 7 foot stiffs just to have 12 extra fouls against Shaq to try and beat him down. So, in closing, I'm ticked the Blazers let Durant slip away. Yeah, Oden will most likely be fine.. Good center, yay for us. But there is one player on our roster who can score, and that's Brandon Roy. We are gonna need to *keep* Stevie Franchise and start him to make up for the loss of Randolph on the offensive end. I'm scared. We might not even average 85 points next year.But hey, we avoided the ghost of Sam Bowie!!! We did this by... umm.. drafting a big man with injury problems.. instead of... the best player in college basketball? Seriously, say that out loud. Now you know why I'm doing this:

[princeof56k 0]

I actually like what the Blazers are doing. They had some problems that were going to be difficult to fix and are attempting to fix those problems through the draft. It appears they are doing so with a long term vision rather than just trying to make the playoffs now (which I think is the right move). I think the one last thing they need to do is add some classy veterns who are the tail end of their career to teach these kids how to win.With Oden, I like taking the big man. Potential franchise centers are so rare I think you have to take him. Sure the Blazers paid for that when they took Bowie over Jordan, but the Rockets took Olajuwon over Jordan the same year and I wouldnt exactly call that a huge mistake. I also wouldnt call Oden injury prone. He had a wrist injury which IMO is real minor. I'd be much more worried if it was a knee, ankle, or foot problem. Due to that unjury, and his draft status on the line, I dont think he played as full speed the whole season, and I cant blame him.With Randolf, I puzzled by that as well, but I think there's other issues at work here other than just pure talent. Randolf has talent, but he also off court issues an a huge contract. The Blazers clearly just wanted him out of there which is a indication of their desire to sart over around a young core and their faith in Aldridge (who came on strong in the 2nd half of the season). The Blazers were likely looking for young talent and reasonabl contracts in exchange for Randolf. They obviously couldnt get that. I'm sure they tried like hell and plenty of teams called which says more about Randolf than anything else. Jermiane Oneal looks good on paper, but he has a huge contact, approaching 30 years old, and plagued by unjuries (he hasnt played a full season in 3 years). I think they took Francis because of the number remaining years on the contract. And dont discount Frye. I think many GMs still consider him a quality young player.I dont see the Blazers making the playoffs next year. The West is just too tough. But of all the lottery teams, they appear to be in the best long term shape. They have a good young core and are trying to get some financial flexibility. In 3 years, they could be a very strong contender.